Meet Telma, Eva, and Judith, three undocumented workers who toil as cooks, housekeepers, and even surrogate mothers — often at the expense of their own families — as they attempt to pursue their American dreams.

When the New York City Fire Department tried to push women out of firefighting, Brenda Berkman pushed back. Her story, and those of other pioneer female firefighters, reveals the price these women paid to break the department’s gender barrier.